It seems a lot of the high end wedding/event photogs light their venues with multiple off camera lights- vs one on camera flash that they bounce. The effect can really be quite good and much more natural than bouncing an on camera flash.

I don't shoot events or have speedlight experience, but the concept seems really cool and I would like to learn more about it. Are there any specific online tutorials that cover this?

Neil Van Niekerk's blog is a good starting point, as is his book Off-camera Flash Techniques. Check the sidebar on the right side of his home page, and scroll down to the various articles and tutorials that intererst you.

I used 3 sometimes 4 speedlights at wedding receptions. One speedlight is on my Canon 1Dx and serves as the master. The second speedlight is on a light stick held by my assistant (Sasha) and the other two speedlights are on light stands. I place them either across the dance floor or on both corners facing me to provide some rim light. I have been using the new Canon flashes that support up to 5 groups. So each of my flashes is in a separate group which I can adjust quickly from my camera.

It can be quite simple and affordable. Often I will use 2-4 older Nikon units (Canon, Vivitar, etc. are great too). Typically I start around 1/2 power, depending on size of room, and place a pocket wizard on each. I prefer the older, manual units for the simple reason they are simple and inexpensive to replace in the event one gets knocked over. That being said, I try to place the lights in corners out of the way and sandbag each stand. Sometimes a Bogen Justin Clamp can come in handy to attach the flash to an existing fixture. Most often I can just shoot a couple quick tests and dial the exposure in accordingly without every having to adjust the flashes. Works great and can be very effective, especially on those occasions when a strobe is included in the frame and creates an interesting layer to the lighting.

Sorry Brian.. I meant to post that in a thread I started a few days ago in the Photo Critique forum. I don't like the lighting and the unevenness in the facial colors. Plus, the background is supposed to be white. Thanks!

BrianO wrote:
Joe McNally is also well known for sometimes using muiltiple Speedlights (sometimes a lot of them), and he has a site that might be helpful:http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/
Sure is an expensive route. In the blog, he states the SB-900 gets 60Ws. So, using four in his octa yields 240Ws for $2000... and he's not even using CLS!

BrianO wrote:
True, but when he's not using all four in an octabox he can split them up and use them from different angles.

I don't suggest doing that with an Einsein.
Oh I don't know, there must be more than one capacitor in an Einstein, you could always stick your toungue on one to see if they are still holding any charge.

There's more value in having a camera capable of really good very high ISO with one on camera flash and one off camera strobe than having a crazy amount of strobes to light a room. And I'm talking visually as well as the amount of work it takes to set up.